My opinion on the original theatrical version of Contact is kind of mixed. I did like the movie, particularly from a directorial point of view, but I found a set of diverse problems within it, mostly derived from the Hollywoodization factor and trying to be more mainstream. For my tastes, I can narrow these problems down to two principal ones. Ultimist's edit, Contact: You Are Not Alone, is overall a very solid effort, but that while it effectively tones down the first of those two biggies to the point of making it practically disappear, it doesn't even address the other one. But, one thing at a time, so...
THE GOOD STUFF
-Matthew McConaughey's character being greatly reduced. THANKS! This was my problem #1, having a theologist that behaves like James Bond, a Christian of sincere faith who goes around having casual sex yet is not written as a hypocrite (it's not moral problems I have with him, I'm an active Atheist, but I like my characters believable). The romance didn't bother me per se, but his one-night-stand with Ellie and then goodbye for four years, and his overall playboy attitude did. Fortunately, Ultimist deleted most of it. There are traces left, such as the way he moves around Ellie, body language and all, in the remaining sequences, but that can't be fanedited out. It's how McConaughey plays him. I still don't know why.
-The religious angle being toned down. As a non-religious person, I'm thankful of this. It was overdone anyway, regardless of one's beliefs. In a way, it seemed to want to make everyone happy (to paraphrase Drumlin, they wouldn't want to lose 95% of their audience) and ultimately take the side of faith. This was most apparent in the "Did you love your father" sequence, that gave the last word to the believer. I also like the fact that the "Do you believe in God" part of the hearing was deleted. It's a tiny bit strange, given that Ellie's non-beliefs are never publically stated, only to Joss in private, but nonetheless the sequence had always played to me as if Ellie does actually believe in God but she won't admit it because she's a scientist. So, bye bye to that, for the better. I also like how the "faith?" part of the Ellie interview Joss watches on TV was seamlessly removed. Still, don't worry, the theme remains in the movie and is still important enough, just not overwhelming.
-The religious terrorist's first appearance cut out. Good call. He was a bit too ubiquitous in the original.
-Bill Clinton. What remains of him in the movie is more than enough. It would seem the filmmakers got a bit overexcited by being able to make an actual Presidential speech seem like it's about an alien contact, so they wanted to show it off. Boo to them.
-Hadden staying in the movie. He's one of my favorite characters, and I'm kinda puzzled to find out that he divides opinions. I'm very glad he stays.
-The removal of Ellie asking the Presidential advisor where to get a dress. Thank you! That gag was embarrassing.
-The face-morphing gone. Yeah! What's the point of hiring a great actress for the role, and then CGIng up her facial performance?
-The new color correction of the alien beach. I wasn't that bothered by the original color, weird as it was, given that those purple hues were the recurring tone of the alien-related gears, the capsule when it goes translucid looks kind of like that. But I must admit it looks much more beautiful now, while still otherworldly enough.
-Kudos for that newly recreated shot of Vega! Looks great!
-The technical quality. Top-notch. Flawless video and audio (I haven't noticed any of the supposed music distortion problems).
-The DVD presentation. The menu is as good or better than anything you'd find in a commercial release, with cover art to match.
THE NOT SO GOOD STUFF
-I must agree here with my fellow reviewers who commented on the fadeins-fadeouts of the opening being too fast. They just don't look like anything you'd see in a theatrical release.
-And I must also agree that you should have put some of the stuff previous to the capsule falling. As it is now, if one hasn't seen the original, the impression is WTF?! Given its importance, one should establish what's that thing that gets dropped before dropping it.
-And now, gentlemen, comes the moment to address my Problem #2. The original is terribly guilty of talking down to its audience by having characters spell out stuff to other characters that should already be at least moderately familiar with said stuff. And, unfortunately, Ultimist left every single instance of these in. Ellie explaining what prime numbers are to James Woods, which is very basic science and he, in his position, should at least half know. Ellie explaining Occam's Razor to Joss, who's a THEOLOGIST (like Occam was) and has written a book on faith vs. science, in which one imagines such concept would be prominent. Hadden playing Ellie home movies about herself and explaining them out loud (I guess she missed her own TV show). Everyone needing translation of Hitler's speech (and Kent conveniently understanding German) when it's common knowledge, and more so if you're a scientist, that the Berlin Olympics inauguration was the first TV signal (this one is even explained in the following scene to people who could plausibly not know about it). I found those moments insultingly idiotic in the original (a story with a very smart source and basis, which makes it worse), and they're no less insultingly idiotic here. Plus, the story is just as understandable without those explanations, and anyway if one does think that Occam's Razor is the title of a slasher, one shouldn't expect to go watch a movie about scientific research and be in the same level of knowledge than the characters.
-A minor plot hole is created by removing the reference to Ellie having been away for some 18 hours. Not that it's essential, but this way, when the 18 hours of static are mentioned in the ending, it seems weird. For the audience, her trip only lasted for several minutes.
-I miss that bit of the TV screens with Jay Leno and the likes commenting the contact news from Hadden's multiple monitors, and overlapping each other. It was an almost Altmanesque moment of narrative, and a very creative way to indirectly tell the story.
-I also miss the ambiguity the original version of the ending hearing presented. Was it real or was it orchestrated by Hadden?
THE AMBIVALENT STUFF
-While you created a really neat opening credits sequence, I do miss the original use of that shot, particularly the sound work, which I found impressive. I like it as a credits sequence with the music, but I think the movie loses more than it wins with the trade. It's like the two versions of the beginning of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil (check them both on Youtube if you don't know what I'm talking about).
-I'm not sure about the whole flashback structure and beginning with the epilogue. It kind of works for your intentions, but it's not really what I would have done.
Overall, despite everything I enjoyed this edit quite a bit. And it has become a paradox in itself: it won't be a replacement disc for me, as it lost things I really wanted in and kept things I really wanted out... yet I think that it's overall better and more enjoyable than the original. It's just not my vision. Taking everything into consideration, I give it a solid 8/10 and my recommendation. Good job!
